Autism spectrum

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a range of neurodevelopmental disorders that includes autism and related conditions. Autism is a developmental disability, but children can either be deemed gifted or severely challenged. It is characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behavior, and speech and nonverbal communication. Autism occurs because of genetic and environmental factors, including having an older parent or genetically inheriting the traits. It is 4 times more common among boys (1/37th) than among girls (1/151st), and they are reported in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Students with autism may have a strong suit in areas such as visual and rule-based thinking, and they focus on something that sparks their interest. Children with ASD are more likely to have a high skill in paying attention to minor details, and visuals should be used while teaching a step-by-step process. Strengths include handling critical thinking, following rules, and having a good memory, while challenges include participating in sports with their peers, difficulty answering open-ended questions, and trouble with understanding idioms. Teachers can get to know how their student learns, to have a behavior plan in place, to keep a calm classroom, to give specifics, to warn about a change in the daily schedule, and to teach social skills. No child with ASD is the same, as it is a broad syndrome. A child with Asperger's syndrome (who can be highly intelligent although without social skills) is different from a person with Pervasive Developmental disorder (severe autism). Teachers must also teach children without disabilities how to pay with autistic students so that they do not feel excluded from school activities.